Eliot Kamenitz / Times-PicayuneAaron Stecker may be thrust into a much larger role for the Saints offense.

There's a reason Saints tailback Aaron Stecker has stuck around so long in the NFL.

Several reasons, in fact.

The eight-year veteran plays on all of the Saints' special teams units, which includes returning kickoffs -- and he makes occasional cameos on offense as a change-of-pace back who can run and catch the ball.

"When I first got in the league, a coach told me, 'The more you can do, the longer you can play.' So I try to do a little bit of everything," Stecker said.

For the third time in four years, Stecker will help fill the void left by injured starter Deuce McAllister, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the Saints' 31-14 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Sept. 24 at the Superdome.

Stecker will back up starter Reggie Bush, but he is expected to get plenty of playing time. The Saints' playbook is filled with plays that use two tailbacks at once.

"You can't fill Deuce's shoes, but whatever they ask us to do . . ." Stecker said. "If Reggie's going to carry it 20 times, and I carry it five times to give him a blow -- those five times -- I'm going to try and make it the best five reps to help this team out."

Stecker has done this before.

In 2004, he started two games when McAllister was out with an ankle injury. In the first game at St. Louis, he rushed 18 times for a career-high 106 yards. The next week at Arizona, he caught six passes for 71 yards.

In 2005, Stecker shared the load with tailback Antowain Smith when McAllister went down with his first season-ending knee injury. Stecker finished that season with 95 carries for 363 yards and 35 receptions for 281 yards.

"I like the fact that he's smart. I think he's tough. I think he's durable, and I think he's good in the passing game," Coach Sean Payton said. "I also think he's good in protections, aside from being a runner that I'm not afraid to hand it to."

Payton saw something he liked in Stecker when he took over the Saints last year.

First, Stecker survived the Saints' roster purge in 2006, even though they had drafted Bush and signed veteran Michael Bennett in free agency. Eventually, Bennett was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs.

This year, the Saints added two rookie running backs. They traded up in the fourth round to select Antonio Pittman and signed undrafted rookie Pierre Thomas. Neither one of them knocked Stecker off the depth chart, and Pittman didn't even make the roster.

"That's just the way it's always been for me. I've always had to compete every year. I always feel like I have to prove myself or show myself every year," said Stecker, who began his career as an undrafted free agent out of Western Illinois and got cut by his first team, the Chicago Bears, before catching on with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1999.

"I had a situation when I was in Tampa, in Coach (Jon) Gruden's first year (in 2002), they drafted a guy in the fourth round. It was a similar situation," said Stecker, who went on to win a Super Bowl ring with the Buccaneers that season. "I always feel like they're trying to get rid of me. My thing is that they can't get rid of me. That's my mindset."

Stecker is a tireless worker and a well-respected veteran in the locker room. Teammates always admired his classic training camp battles with former special teams standout Fred McAfee, when they would always try to out-perform the other in every drill and sprint.

"This is my fourth year with him, and he's done it every year," fullback Mike Karney said. "He comes in, does his job. He's kind of a guy you don't really know about or fans don't really talk about, but he's a big part of this puzzle here.

"I'm happy for him. This was a year that I think that he wasn't sure because of what we drafted, but he again came out of it with flying colors."

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Mike Triplett can be reached at mtriplett@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3405.